


Love Guru

by Etched_in_Fire



Series: Star Fox: Fate's Decree [12]
Category: Star Fox Series
Genre: F/M, Implied Sexual Content, Pre-Command - Freeform, post-assault
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2014-02-12
Updated: 2014-02-12
Packaged: 2018-01-12 01:43:35
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,123
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1180421
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Etched_in_Fire/pseuds/Etched_in_Fire
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>11 ALW - After the disbanding of the Star Fox team, Slippy has found himself in the new colonies situated on Aquas and confronted with a dilemma he has not faced in years -- romance.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Love Guru

**Author's Note:**

> Post-Assault, Pre-Command

            He wasn’t sure why he was shaking.  He had been shaking since he saw her across the restaurant, wiping up a gooey mess on one of the tables.  Oh, sure, it had not been the most romantic thing he had seen. But something about the way she smiled and walked made him feel alight.  Each nerve was tingling.  His heart thudded in his earholes.  When she had looked his way, he had ducked down below his menu—not a terribly hard thing to do, as the diner seemed to serve anything the imagination could come up with, and the frog was not terribly tall.  The clicking of her shoes into the back was what signaled him to resurface, peering about with cautious cerulean eyes.  He was scared.  He was excited.  He was so many things at once!

            And for the first time in awhile, Slippy Toad was smitten. 

            It had been awhile since he had fallen for a girl.  When he had been in the Flight Academy, there had been Bella Croakella—a foolish girl, now that he recalled.  Not at all his type, but the first to ever show interest.  Maybe that was why he had pursued it… There had been little to no chemistry between them at all.  Not that it had mattered in the end—when Fox had come with his proposal to re-create the Star Fox team and Slippy had said yes, Croakella had tearily broken it off… and last Slippy heard, she had found a guy immediately after (an unfortunate bullfrog) and they had married soon after the Lylat Wars were done.

            After that, his eyes had been on his ships and on the maintenance of the Great Fox.  … Not that it particularly mattered anymore.  After Fox and Krystal’s blowout, the team had scattered across the four winds.  Peppy had been called in to fill in for General Pepper.  Falco had been reluctant to leave, but Fox’s slump had prevented them from working cohesively.  The vulpine was mad all the time… and finally, they broke apart entirely.  Falco went his own way and last Slippy had heard from him, he had been bar hopping in Katina City.  Fox maintained his vagrant state, drifting among the planets of the Lylat System and scarcely keeping contact.  _Well, at least he has ROB for company…_

            As for Slippy, who had decided to help with the Aquas Colonies Project, well… He was managing just fine.  His father had given him a job at the new Space Dynamics headquarters in the fledgling Coral City, which was scarcely a city at all despite it’s status as the planet’s capital.  _I just hope all of the nasty sea creatures are not interested in trying to eat this place.  Floating cities are neat and all, but geesh!_   He didn’t want to think about what was below the watery surface.

            The ringing on his computer tore him from his thoughts.  Working at Space Dynamics had garnered enough cash to rent an apartment, and that was where Slippy Toad had stationed himself for his stay on Aquas.  He had brought few things over from the Great Fox, the first being his old laptop, with video messaging thankfully still installed.  _It’ll be her._   He gulped.  _Well… Here goes…_

            A click later and he was staring into Krystal’s face.

            “Hello,” the blue vixen blinked.  From what he gathered, she was in a dormitory-styled room, a mere prison cell compared to the suite he was renting.  “I heard you needed some help?” Her voice sounded different- _stiffer-_ but the smile was the same.

            _I wish I knew more girls than my friend’s ex-girlfriend.  I’ve hardly kept in contact since they fought.  We all used to be such good friends, but still… It’s weird talking to the old gang now!_   When he realized he had referred to them as the “old gang”, he withered a bit inside. “Um yeah!” The cordial, albeit nervous, frog’s head bobbed up and down. “I have a bit of a problem actually.  A bit of a um… Uh…”

            “A problem?  And you’re sure _I_ could help?”

            _Geez, where do I even begin?_

            “Well, you see… Uhhh…”

            Fumble, fumble, awkward.  He had never been good at talking about his feelings.  Where words should have come out, there was only awkward mumbling—a chorus of “eeehhhh” and “wellllllll” and “uhhhhhhh” that sounded more like another dialect than a coherent sentence.

            “So you’ve met a girl,” Krystal stated with the slight dip of her head, “I fail to see how this is problematic.”

            “Whoa, can you read minds from that far away?” Slippy asked, aghast.  “Speaking of which, where _are_ you?”

            “Don't be absurd, Slippy.  It was merely a good guess,” the blue vixen retorted, but was unable to hide a smile, “And I’m on Corneria, in the capital, to be more specific.  General Peppy has given me a job in the Cornerian Defense Force… for the time being.”

            “You’re in the CDF?  Wow, I… I guess I just didn’t picture you doing that!  How is everything going?  Got your own Cornerian Fighter?” Slippy asked, eyes stretching wide.

            “Yes.  Everything is going smoothly,” her smile faltered—subtly, but he still could see it.  “But this chat isn’t about me, is it?  It’s about you and your…” Her lips twisted coyly.  “ _Problem._ ”

            _Something’s off about her,_ he thought, but waved it aside.  _It’s probably Fox._ For a moment, he wondered if hearing from him had reminded her of her ex-boyfriend.  No doubt it had… but did talking about romance hurt her?  Was this conversation just going to remind her of what she had lost?  Suddenly, he was hesitant, nibbling at his lower lip in thought.  _I’ve already called her.  There’s no reason to back down now, I guess…_ he thought, but something inside twisted into a knot as he looked up at the screen, “Um… her name is… Amanda.”

            “And?”

            “Um… She’s pink.”

            “What do you know about her?  How did you two meet?”

            And there it was, the crack in his armor.  A dawning of horrific realization.  “ _Oh,_ ” and suddenly, the green frog was back at a loss for words, leaving the vixen to stare at his agape mouth and grapefruit-sized eyes.

            “You… You’ve _talked_ to her, right?” Krystal asked him, ears flicking back and brows raising.

            “Um… not exactly…?” Slippy confessed. “I um… I really didn’t think about… that…”

            “You didn’t think about _talking_ to the person you are crushing over?” Krystal blinked.

            “Hey, you say it like it’s an easy thing to do!” Slippy exclaimed, “And y-y’know, now that I think about it, I think I did say something to her.  I think I said, “I’ll take the omelette”!  That counts, right?”

            “You told her to get you an omelette?”

            “She works at a diner!”

            “Ah, that makes more sense… She was your waitress?”

            “Yeah…”

            “And you said her name was… Amanda?”

            “Yeah!”

            “… That’s it?  That’s all you know?”

            “Well…”

            He did not even need to finish.  Krystal leaned back in her chair, tucking her hands into her cream and green jacket.  “I’m going to give you an assignment, Slippy.  And you’re going to report back to me once you’re done.”  _Assignment?  Report?  What is she even talking about…_ The blue vulpine propped her chin on her curled fist, leaning against the surface of the desk. “You’re going to find out something new about her every time you see her.  Find out what kind of flower she likes.  Find out how to make her laugh.  Find out where she’s from.  I don’t care what the information is, so long as it is relevant to _her_.”

            “But I’m bad at talking to girls,” he found himself whining.

            “You’re talking to me, aren’t you?” Krystal asked with the slight tilt of her head. “Think of it as a mission.” There was a pause on her lips before she added, quieter this time, “Like the ones we used to go on.”  But something about flying Arwings through blizzards seemed so much simpler than this.  The chaos of the Lylat Wars was simpler than this.  His stomach churned and growled loudly in protest.

            “I didn’t want to remind you of—”

            “What’s done is done.  I think of those days often.  One phone call changes nothing,” Krystal’s voice hardened, but something still seemed so fragile about the topic. “You’ve got your mission, Slippy Toad.  And you’re going to complete it without fail.  I know you can do it.”

            “I called for advice, not for homework…” Slippy began.

            “And this is my advice.  You can’t date someone if you don’t know them,” Krystal said with a simple shrug and Slippy was reminded yet again of Bella Croakella and her teary breakup.  _I didn’t know her, I guess.  We dated but… looking back on it, I don’t think I even knew where she came from.  Or what she was studying at the academy…_

            “I guess you’re right,” the frog relented. “When do I need to report by?”

            “Hm… you have a week,” Krystal replied with a wry smirk, “And don’t be late!”

            _I never thought I’d see her like this.  She used to be a quiet, thoughtful person.  Kind.  Passionate about helping others.  But there’s an edge to her that’s different.  She’s more confident… or something._   “I promise, I won’t be!” He wished he had her resolve. He wished he had her faith in him.  “I’ll call you in a week!”

            “You do that,” the blue vixen nodded to him, “Until then, Slippy.” A click of the button and the screen went black, leaving the frog to his thoughts.

            _A week.  A week to go talk to her.  I have to find out something about her.  Anything… Maybe I could ask her what her favorite food off the menu is?  Does that even count?  Oh gosh… What if she doesn’t have a favorite food?  No… that’s dumb.  Everyone likes food.  Geez, this is gonna be harder than flying through Solar!  Why can’t talking to girls be easy?  Why does talking to girls… involve talking!_

           

* * *

 

 

            She turned in her chair, glancing back towards the small bed in the corner.  Thank heavens that she had gotten a room to herself—the privacy was nice, though it only seemed to contribute to her recluse status in the CDF.  It made for a nice place to get away from the glares and whispers, however.  She dared not extend her mental ears outside of the room, fearing what the others were thinking of her.  Fearing what they were saying.  Fearing that they _knew_ …

            Meanwhile, her sheets moved and rustled, and the vixen tossed a glance over at the shirtless feline, his ebony fur rustled up from slumber. “How was your… business call?” Panther Caroso purred, blinking his golden eyes awake.  “I was a good kitty and kept quiet while you were talking.”

            “It’s a miracle the officers haven’t found you in here yet,” Krystal huffed, folding her arms across her chest. “This is a terribly dangerous place to be.  For you, that is.”

            “It’s no fun without some possibility of incarceration,” Panther licked his lips, “Though, I do grow weary of dodging the guards constantly.  Have you considered Wolf’s offer?  For a spot on the team?”

            “Yes,” Krystal said carefully, “And I know you’re harassing me because he’s harassing you.  He wants a fourth pilot and he can’t find any that will have anything to do with him.”

            “Wolf is impatient.  I, however, am the most patient cat you’ll meet,” Panther propped his head up with a hand.  “So take your time, dear.  This dorm is charming in its own way, even if it is a bit… ah… _cramped_.”

            “This is not an easy thing you ask of me,” Krystal said flatly, “To join Star Wolf would be to commit treason against Corneria.  Against Peppy…” _And Slippy.  And Falco… And… Fox…_ But every time she thought of him, nails raked against her heart.  Tearing open her veins.  She could scarcely bear to think of his face without wanting to scream.  Without wanting to cry…

            “Again, take your time, dear… We’ve all the time in the world,” Panther purred, “Or perhaps you could use some convincing?  I could think of a few ways to…”

            “You’re an incredibly forward man, I’ll have you know.  And ruthless,” Krystal said, a smirk about her features. “If you’re going to try to convince me, you’ll have to bring an incredibly good argument to the table.  Otherwise… the guards are just one shout away.”

            He grinned toothily in reply, rising from the small dorm bed and letting the blankets fall off of his mostly naked form. “I love a challenge.” His breath was a warm growl in her face, but she welcomed it all the same. 


End file.
